


The After Effects

by Merfilly



Category: Labyrinth (1986)
Genre: Gen, Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-16
Updated: 2015-02-16
Packaged: 2018-03-13 07:51:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 329
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3373610
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Merfilly/pseuds/Merfilly
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sarah is a careful woman, who can read more than most would.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The After Effects

Sarah eyed the pair of jocks at the bar, then looked over to the one girl sitting with three less athletic types. She glanced all around, marking the older people of the crowd, the ones that lived in the city but were already out of the college scene. She was accustomed to reading individuals for their threat levels, had done it ever since she was —

— no, she was not thinking about _him_. As she'd gotten older, she'd recognized that though the fae rules of life were different than human, what Jareth had done was predatory and unhealthy. That he was still the measure she used against other men and women said much for the impression she had been left with.

She walked over to the table with the girl by herself, making eye contact. There was just enough plea in the girl's eyes that Sarah pasted on a bright smile, leaning in to break up the conversation. In minutes, she had the girl extricated, and they went to the restroom together, to give the disappointed boys a chance to lose themselves trying to hit up older, more experienced women who hopefully wouldn't fall for their crap.

"You're a life saver."

"Watch out for the two at the bar, alright? They've been getting crap from their teammates about the lack of action," Sarah told her, a friendly warning that the girl would hopefully use.

They parted, and the crowd was getting thicker, letting Sarah practice her skills a little more. Read the body language, match faces to the people she encountered at school… and then she could piece together the reasons they were out tonight. Sometimes, it felt like magic. Sometimes, she just wished she didn't distrust everyone so much.

Jareth had preyed upon her, and now she guarded others with her knowledge that went a little beyond normal abilities.

It was going to make her one hell of a profiler when she made it all the way through school.


End file.
